MADISON – A state senator canceled a vote Friday on a controversial bill to create a Wisconsin "alcohol czar," leaving the proposal with little apparent chance of passing this legislative session.

The bill to toughen liquor law enforcement had received significant blowback from brewers, distillers and wineries, from small producers up to international giant MillerCoors.

Sen. Dan Feyen (R-Fond du Lac) said he was calling off the scheduled vote on Senate Bill 801 and was asking instead for a study committee to take a thorough look at how to rewrite longstanding state liquor laws to benefit small businesses.

"Many have been negatively impacted by the antiquated, confusing nature of (the state) laws, and it is clear that there are larger issues with how we regulate and enforce alcoholic beverages here in Wisconsin that need to be addressed," Feyen said.

The move was hailed by Brian Sammons, founder of Twisted Path Distillery in Milwaukee and one of the producers who was concerned about the legislation.

Sammons said he supports rewriting state law but wants to see producers included in the process. He said the current bill was pushed by liquor wholesalers and taverns with little input from the growing number of state businesses producing beverages including beer, cider, wine and distilled spirits.

"I'm hoping that the legislators learn this lesson: that the manufacturers need to be included," Sammons said.

Mike Wittenwyler, an attorney for the Wisconsin Wine and Spirit Institute, said this week that his wholesalers group is simply seeking uniform enforcement of state laws, not any business advantage for distributors.

"I'm not sure what their concern is," Wittenwyler said of producers. "It's fear of the boogeyman."

He pointed to problems such as out of state businesses selling wine over the internet and shipping it into Wisconsin without paying state taxes. Large retailers have also been seeking in recent years to get wholesalers to sell them products at a lower price than the distributors charge to smaller stores — something that's illegal under state law, Wittenwyler said.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) has pushed the bill to create an Office of Alcohol Beverages Enforcement led by a political appointee who would have police powers and a mandate to toughen enforcement of state law.

The proposal also would have given a special liquor exemption to the American Club resort in Kohler. The American Club is distilling a chocolate brandy but having difficulties selling it because of state law.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said this week that his house wouldn't pass the current form of the bill, which had a hearing this week in the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Commerce chaired by Feyen.

Wisconsin has a complicated system governing the making, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages that is known as the three-tier system. It dates back to the 1930s and was intended to prevent monopolies on the sale of beer, wine and spirits by separating businesses involved in alcohol production, wholesale and retail.

The system can both limit the businesses of brewers, distributors and retailers and provide them with lucrative opportunities, so proposed changes to the law often provoke intense legislative battles.